


lilac polo

by oculata



Series: the beginning of forever [10]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 10x07, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Episode Related, Gap Filler, M/M, Season/Series 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21900619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oculata/pseuds/oculata
Summary: Ian and Mickey make some casual lunch plans.(10x07 fill-in fic)
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: the beginning of forever [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1524932
Comments: 13
Kudos: 176





	lilac polo

**Author's Note:**

> 10x07 gets a resounding “not bad” in my books, but here’s a little fill-in anyway.
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/_clennam)

There were many things that Mickey missed about being out in the regular world. The thing that he thought he’d missed most was having a comfortable bed—a piece of copy paper had more back support than that hollow yet lumpy monstrosity in the joint as he’d repeated to Ian ad nauseam. But while his first night sleeping on an actual mattress had been _fine_ , it definitely wasn’t the grand event he had hyped up in his head.

So he moved down the list. The second thing he’d missed most was having the freedom in clothing choice. The prison jumpsuit rode up his crotch in the most wildly uncomfortable way every time he took a step, and if he moved his arms in just the worst way, it would tighten across his chest uncomfortably. He would sometimes go crazy in his own body, resisting every nerve that was screaming at him to rearrange the damn thing because he knew the second he’d move, he would only make the situation worse. So he was grateful that the green shirt he was wearing was comfortable and that his pajama pants were soft and cozy, but the text from his parole officer reminded him that not every bit of society was so accepting of his preferred style of dress—the words “purple polo” and “khaki shorts” made him shudder

He was perplexed. Not entirely, though, because he was certainly enjoying living without a prison guard breathing down his neck or watching his back for the next threat to his or Ian’s safety. But something felt a touch off, and as he began to fold the clothes that his cousin brought for him, he pondered it idly in the back of his mind.

“Give me a list of shit you need, and I’ll pick it up for you!” Ian said as he inched closer to him, giving him a gentle smack on the butt.

“Isn’t that cute?” Sandy cooed. As if he predicted her next observation, Ian wrapped an arm around Mickey’s shoulders. “Little domestic bitches.”

The subsequent kiss, squeeze, and moan in his ear sliced a wide grin into Mickey’s face. As Ian skulked back off into the bathroom to dress and finish the rest of his morning routine, Mickey finally had the time to admire a sight that had evaded him for years—that of his boyfriend clad in nothing but a towel hugging his waist.

Suddenly, the gap in his dreamy fantasy of the pleasures of home was filled, and he followed Ian’s form until the wall obscured him. Finally he could go about his day feeling like the planets were aligned and the ground under him was solid.

“I’m gonna head out; nothing else for me to do here,” Sandy said after their chit-chat fizzled out.

“Aight, see ya,” Mickey replied, giving her a distracted wave before continuing to fold his clothes, a little smile tugging at his lips as he recalled the image of Ian from earlier.

The room was only empty for a second because Ian quickly rotated back in and came up behind Mickey, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing up against his back.

“Hey,” Mickey chuckled.

“Hey,” Ian breathed against his ear. “So, first day of work, huh? You excited?”

“Not really,” he said, but it didn’t sound too convincing because the breath on his ear was making his head all fuzzy. “Told me I gotta wear a purple polo and some preppy shorts. Some security thing at a clothing store.”

“You’ll look nice in shorts,” Ian hummed against the skin behind Mickey’s ear as he dropped his hand down and squeezed his butt.

“Shut up,” Mickey giggled, making a lame attempt at shaking Ian off of him.

Ian laughed and pressed a kiss into the hinge of Mickey’s jaw. “Can I come by for your lunch break? I should have enough time to come home and drop off our shit from Costco if it’s around twelve.”

“Mm, I’m not sure when it’s at, but I’ll text you once I figure it out.”

“Alright.” Ian stood back and spun Mickey around to face him. Mickey raised his eyebrows up expectantly as he looked between Ian’s eyes and his lips. Ian smiled and dropped his head down to meet Mickey’s mouth, locking their lips into a kiss. It was gentle—there to be a reassurance and promise of something that would come later—accented by Ian’s fingers tracing up to curl around Mickey’s neck. It was soft in the intensity of its affection, but it still left them breathless when they pulled apart, the two of them sporting big, dumb grins as they stared at each other like two giddy teenagers.

“See you later, then,” Ian said, placing a last quick peck onto Mickey’s lips whilst giving his butt a final squeeze. He grabbed his wallet and keys and began heading for the doorway, the remnants of his smile still on his face. “Love you!”

Mickey beamed as he watched Ian leave. “Love you, too.”

Christ, was this happiness strong stuff. He was drunk on the normalcy of it all—watching Ian walk around in a regular house, in a towel or in sweatpants or in nothing at all, and then easily laughing with him or chatting with him. Everything felt so easy. For the first time in his life, _things were easy_.

* * *

Mickey exited the shopping center searching for Ian because his boyfriend’s panicked text of “I can’t figure out where I am, I think they changed everything about this stupid place since I went to prison, please come find me” left him no other choice. By that point, he felt like he had made the purple polo his bitch, but when the sunlight hit it and transformed it into a glowing lilac-pink mess, he could feel a small sigh escape from his lips.

Thankfully, Ian’s height and hair made him extremely easy to pick out from the swarm of people bustling about. He strode up next to him, but Ian seemed rather distracted, so his attention to his boyfriend’s appearance was only alerted when Mickey slipped one of his hands into Ian’s.

“Hey—you alright?” Mickey asked.

Ian’s eyes darted down to him a bit too quickly for Mickey’s liking. “How’s your first day going? The pink looks nice.”

Mickey chewed on the inside of his cheek but chose not to pursue it further. He began leading them back into the mall as he rattled off the story of his crazy morning and how insane but awesome it was to get paid for decking people. Ian produced enough verbal and nonverbal responses that it kept Mickey from getting too into his head with worry—after all, everything that morning had been fine, and Ian even seemed excited to come see him at work, but something just kept biting at him.

“Yeah, I don’t know about the clothes, man. Feel like you’ll get more out of the employee discount than—holy shit, they’ve got a Sbarro’s now?!” Mickey exclaimed, all wide-eyed as he beholded the restaurant in the wall. “Holy shit, I know what I’m gettin’.”

Once Mickey’s order had been collected, they made their way over to the Panda Express at Ian’s request.

“What d’you want?” Mickey mumbled over Ian’s shoulder as they gazed up at the bright menu.

“Uh,” Ian began eloquently. “Half orange chicken and...honey walnut shrimp with chow mein.”

Mickey turned to him with a confused look. “Since when the fuck do you like honey walnut shrimp? You told me you get the szechuan beans.”

Ian cracked a smile. “Maybe I’ll like it this time.”

“Fuck no,” Mickey challenged with an eyeroll. “I’m payin’ so you’re gettin’ something we both know you like. Be adventurous with your own fuckin’ money, Marco Polo.” He nudged Ian in the side, causing Ian to snicker a bit. Mickey was enjoying how he was getting Ian to loosen up and laugh with him—the thought that whatever Ian was so tense about earlier was becoming irrelevant put him at ease. But it was hard to stay like that, though, because the second their banter would stall, Ian would get the same distant look in his eyes.

“Unless you _really_ wanna try the honey walnut shrimp again.”

Ian looked down at him and smiled, reaching a hand under Mickey’s polo to stroke the small of his back. “No, szechuan beans sound nice.” 

Ian kept his hand there, ghosting his palm and fingertips along Mickey’s skin the whole time Mickey was commanding his order at the worker.

As Mickey sat down and threw their trays onto the table, Ian hovered over his seat. Mickey was about to bite into his pizza when he looked across from him and noticed that Ian’s body wasn’t where he expected it to be. He looked up at his boyfriend incredulously.

“The fuck you waitin’ for, man?” he said, gesturing at the seat with his pizza slice. “Sit down ‘n eat before it gets cold.”

“I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Okay, well, hurry the fuck back!” he said, sounding somewhat impatient.

Ian nodded and quickly turned away to waddle around with the body language of a lost puppy as he tried to place the bathroom. Mickey watched him with a great deal of unease as he ambled through the food court before disappearing into the men’s bathroom. He took a hesitant bite of his pizza as he tried to calm himself and make himself believe that nothing was wrong—perhaps something had happened at Costco that set Ian into a funky mood, and he would be as good as new when he came back to their table. That thought felt good to him; he nodded, satisfied with his resolution, and took another much more confident bite.

He really didn’t want anything to be wrong—normalcy was so calming, and he didn't want to let that feeling go.


End file.
